Oar reversing device

ABSTRACT

A novel oar reversing arrangement including a handle portion, a paddle portion, an oar reversing device connecting said portions and including a pair of gears which are in a different plane from the movement of the portion. The pair of gears are essentially enclosed to prevent contact thereof by exterior objects. A novel oar lock assembly having an oar reversing arrangement, a channel member adapted to be snuggly and slidably received on a length of a gunwale of a boat, an attachment device rigidly attached to the underside of said oar reversing arrangement and a complementary device rigidly attached to the top of said channel member whereby the devices may be interlocked by the relative rotation of the oar reversing arrangement around an axis represented by the length of the channel member so that the devices may be separated when the oar reversing arrangement is rotated to the side of the channel member, but the devices are interlocked when the oar reversing arrangement is rotated to a position above the channel member.

United States Patent [191 Bellis 51 May 20, 1975 1 1 OAR REVERSING DEVICE 21 Appl. No.: 365,770

[52] US. Cl. 115/243 [51] Int. Cl. B63h 16/00 [58] Field of Search 115/243, 24.2, 24.1, 24.5,

Primary ExaminerTrygve M. Blix Assistant ExaminerGregory W. OConnor Attorney, Agent, or FirmWills, Green & Mueth [57] ABSTRACT A novel oar reversing arrangement including a handle portion, a paddle portion, an oar reversing device connecting said portions and including a pair of gears which are in a different plane from the movement of the portion. The pair of gears are essentially enclosed to prevent contact thereof by exterior objects. A novel oar lock assembly having an oar reversing arrangement, a channel member adapted to be snuggly and slidably received on a length of a gunvvale of a boat, an attachment device rigidly attached to the underside of said oar reversing arrangement and a complementary device rigidly attached to the top of said channel member whereby the devices may be interlocked by the relative rotation of the oar reversing arrangement around an axis represented by the length of the channel member so that the devices may be separated when the oar reversing arrangement is rotated to the side of the channel member, but the devices are interlocked when the oar reversing arrangement is rotated to a position above the channel member.

7 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures SHEET 10F 4 FIG-2 PATENIED M20 5175 SHEET 20F 4 PAYENTEU W20 I975 SHEET 30F 4 FiG.,--8

PATENTED MAY 2 0 i975 SHEET l BF OAR REVERSING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to oar reversing arrangements and means for locking and unlocking such arrangements to the gunwale of boats, canoes, and the like.

Various oar reversing arrangements are known. One such arrangement is described in Kashew US. Pat. No. 3,156,934 which shows two gear portions, one attached to the handle and the other to the oar. The arrangement as described in said patent has several serious problems. The exposed gears represent a hazard since they are likely to engage the clothing or even the fingers of persons using the boat. In addition, the partial gear structure imposes all of the gear wear of the intermeshing teeth provided. When these teeth become loose due to wear, the device is no longer useful.

Kashew also describes an oar lock assembly which has one portion of which an L-shaped member is screwed or bolted to the boat. This structure is not satisfactory in use since the oaring forces are not well distributed along the gunwale, increasing the possibilities of cracking or other damage to the gunwale. Further, the device is also inconvenient to take on and off the boat.

The present invention overcomes the problems of Kashew, and otherwise significantly advances this art as will hereinafter appear. It is to be anticipated that the device of this invention will be rapidly and widely adopted by boating enthusiasts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly, the present invention comprises a novel oar reversing arrangement comprising: a handle portion, a paddle portion, an oar reversing device connecting said portions and including a pair of gears which are in a different plane from the movement of said portions, said pair of gears being essentially enclosed to prevent contact thereof by exterior objects.

This invention further comprehends a novel oar lock assembly comprising: an oar reversing arrangement, a channel member adapted to be snuggly and slidably received on a length of the gunwale of a boat, means rigidly attached to the underside of said oar reversing arrangement and complementary means rigidly attached to the top of said channel member whereby said means may be interlocked by the relative rotation of the oar reversing arrangement around an axis represented by the length of the channel member so that the two means may be separated when the oar reversing arrangement is rotated to the side of the channel member, but said two means are interlocked when said oar reversing arrangement is rotated to a position above said channel member.

It is an object of my invention to provide a novel oar reversing arrangement.

An object of the oar reversing mechanism is to row the boat forward instead of backward as is the case with the conventional oar.

It is another object of my invention to provide a novel oar lock assembly.

More specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide a safer oar reversing mechanism.

It is an object to provide an oar reversing mechanism having a longer life.

It is an object to provide an oar lock assembly which more adequately distributed the oaring forces over the gunwale.

It is still another object to provide an oar lock assembly which can be more quickly installed and removed.

It is a further object of this invention, in a preferred embodiment, to provide two pairs of essentially enclosed gears to provide greater strength and smoother action with a minimization of flexing or play in the oar.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following specific description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION Turning to the drawings;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a boat provided with a preferred embodiment of my invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 1. 7

FIG. 3 is a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a partial section and partially broken away view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a section view showing the gears in the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing the operation of the oar lock of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is an alternate embodiment of the oar reversing mechanism and oar lock of this invention.

FIG. 8 is a side section view of the two sets of gears used in the preferred embodiment of the oar reversingarrangement of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 shows, in perspective, a portion of the oar lock mechanism of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 shows, in perspective, another preferred embodiment of my invention.

FIG. 11 shows, in partial section, yet another embodiment of the gears and oar of my invention.

Turning to the drawings in greater detail, in FIG. 1, boat 10 is provided with the oar reversing mechanism generally indicated as 12, and the oar lock generally indicated as 14.

The oar reversing mechanism in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-6, includes a handle portion 16 received in sleeve 18 and a-paddle or oar portion 19 received in sleeve 20. The sleeves have ends 22 and 24 which rotate about shafts 26 and 28. The larger gear 30 is attached to sleeve 18. The smaller gear 32 is attached to sleeve 20. The gears 30 and 32 are essentially enclosed in housing 34. The gears, and the handle 16 and paddle 18 move in different but parallel planes. The top plate 36 secures the ends of shafts 26 and 28. The two posts 37 are an important part of the assembly in that they make the whole assembly rigid, that is, they keep the gear shafts from twisting whole the reversing mechanism when being used is under pressure. They also serve as guard posts. The gears 30 and 32 are held to ends 22 and 24 by fasteners 38.

One embodiment of the oar lock is shown in detail in FIG. 6. The extension 40 is provided at each side with ears 42. The ears 42 are receivable in key-shaped slots 44 extending upwardly from U-shaped channel member 46.

In FIGS. 7 and 8, two pairs of gears 48 and 50 are provided, one pair above and the other pair below the plane of the handle and oar, the oar reversing mechanism otherwise being as previously described.

In FIGS. 7 9, there is shown an oar lock having two supports 52 and cross bar 54 on the channel member. The complementary slotted extensions 56 on the oar reversing mechanism provides for interlocking in a manner essentially equivalent to the alternate structure of FIGS. 1 5.

In FIG. 10, the member 58 limits the extent to which the oar can dip into the water. In other words, the rotational movement of the oar reversing mechanism about gunwale is restricted so that the oarsman cannot accidentally dip the oar too far into the water.

FIG. 11 shows the use of die cast nylon gears 60 having sleeve bearings 62 and lugs 64. The lugs 64 are received in openings 66 in arms 68 with a press fit.

With the handle part having a larger gear attached to it and the paddle part having a smaller gear attached to it, this allows the oars when folded to be in an offset position so when the reversing mechanism with oars folded is tipped into the boat it allows the paddle part of the oars to be lined up along the top of the gunwale with ends of the oars lyingflat over the transom, while the handle part protrudes on an angle down into the boat. This allows the oars to be in a secure and out of the way position. With a push from the palm of the hand onto the top of the oar mechanism the oars are flipped out into the water and again in a rowing position. The oars can be folded either to the front or back position.

When gear teeth have worn, gears can be disconnected and reversed, front to back, thereby using the unused half of the gears. This increases the life of the gears.

This oar locking device has both a stationary and movable hinge part locking device. In FIGS. 1 5, the movable part is provided with two ears protruding out of the hinge block with two sides of the ears milled down flat. These ears are inserted into a stationary oar lock which is constructed from a channel that slips over the gunwale provided with two small blocks that are attached to the channel. The blocks have holes drilled in them which are the same size as the ears. A slot is cut out of each block the same width as the milled sides of ears. These ears are then with the oars in a folded position lined up with the slots and inserted into the stationary oar locking device. When the mechanism is in the rowing position the oars cannot be dislodged. Oars can only be removed when they are again in a folded position and lined up with the slots.

Having fully described the invention, it is intended that it be limited only by the lawful scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A novel oar reversing arrangement comprising:

a handle portion,

a paddle portion,

an oar reversing device connecting said portions and including a housing and a pair of meshing gears received in said housing which are in a different plane from the movement of said portions, one portion and one gear rigidly fixed to one another for rotating about a first stationary common shaft, the

end of said portion and said gear being superposed 6 along the axis of said first stationary common shaft and the shaft passing through said end of said portion and said gear, and the other portion and other gear rotate rigidly fixed to one another for rotating axially about a second stationary common shaft, the end of said other portion and said other gear being superposed along the axis of said second stationary common shaft and said second shaft passing through said end of said other portion and said other gear, said pair of gears being essentially enclosed in said housing to prevent contact thereby by exterior objects, and a pair of rigid, spacedapart posts which maintain the distance between the plane of the gears and the plane of movement of said portions.

2. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the gear reversing device includes two pairs of meshing gears, one pair in a plane above and the other pair in a plane below the movement of said portions to reduce play, both pair of gears being essentially enclosed.

3. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein said gears are removable and reversible to mitigate gear wear.

4. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein said common shafts are parallel.

5. The arrangement of claim 1 the handle portion is connected to a gear having a larger pitch diameter than the gear on the paddle portion.

6. A novel oar lock assembly comprising:

an oar reversing arrangement having an underside,

said arrangement including a pair of meshing gears, a channel member having a top side, and lengthwise sides, a length of the gunwhale of a boat being adapted to be snuggly and slidably received within said channel member between said lengthwise sides,

fixed and rigid means on the underside of said oar reversing arrangement and complementary fixed and rigid means on the top of said channel member, said means rigidly attach to the underside of said oar reversing arrangement comprising two projections having flattened sides, and said complimentary means rigidly attached to the top of said channel member comprising'two upstanding members having key-shaped slots, said projections being slidable into and out of said slotted members when said oar reversing arrangement is rotated to the side of said channel member but not otherwise whereby said means may be interlocked by the relative rotation of the oar reversing arrangement around an axis represented by the lengthwise dimension of the channel member so that the two fixed and rigid means may be separated when the oar reversing arrangement mechanism including said pair of gears is rotated to the side of the channel member, but said two means are interlocked when said oar reversing arrangement mechanism is rotated to a position above said channel member.

7. A novel oar lock assembly comprising: an oar re versing arrangement having an underside, said arrangement including a pair of meshing gears, a channel member having a top side, and lengthwise sides, a length of the gunwhale of a boat being adapted to be snuggly and slidably received within said channel member between said lengthwise sides,

fixed and rigid means on the underside of said oar reversing arrangement and complementary fixed and rigid means on the top of said channel member, said means rigidly attached to the underside of said oar reversing arrangement comprising two projections having key-shaped slots, and the complemendimension of the channel member so that the two fixed and rigid means may be separated when the oar reversing arrangement mechanism including said pair of gears is rotated to the side of the channel member, but said two means are interlocked when said oar reversing arrangement mechanism is rotated to a position above said channel member. 

1. A novel oar reversing arrangement comprising: a handle portion, a paddle portion, an oar reversing device connecting said portions and including a housing and a pair of meshing gears received in said housing which are in a different plane from the movement of said portions, one portion and one gear rigidly fixed to one another for rotating about a first stationary common shaft, the end of said portion and said gear being superposed along the axis of said first stationary common shaft and the shaft passing through said end of said portion and said gear, and the other portion and other gear rotate rigidly fixed to one another for rotating axially about a second stationary common shaft, the end of said other portion and said other gear being superposed along the axis of said second stationary common shaft and said second shaft passing through said end of said other portion and said other gear, said pair of gears being essentially enclosed in said housing to prevent contact thereby by exterior objects, and a pair of rigid, spaced-apart posts which maintain the distance between the plane of the gears and the plane of movement of said portions.
 2. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein the gear reversing device includes two pairs of meshing gears, one pair in a plane above and the other pair in a plane below the movement of said portions to reduce play, both pair of gears being essentially enclosed.
 3. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein said geArs are removable and reversible to mitigate gear wear.
 4. The arrangement of claim 1 wherein said common shafts are parallel.
 5. The arrangement of claim 1 the handle portion is connected to a gear having a larger pitch diameter than the gear on the paddle portion.
 6. A novel oar lock assembly comprising: an oar reversing arrangement having an underside, said arrangement including a pair of meshing gears, a channel member having a top side, and lengthwise sides, a length of the gunwhale of a boat being adapted to be snuggly and slidably received within said channel member between said lengthwise sides, fixed and rigid means on the underside of said oar reversing arrangement and complementary fixed and rigid means on the top of said channel member, said means rigidly attach to the underside of said oar reversing arrangement comprising two projections having flattened sides, and said complimentary means rigidly attached to the top of said channel member comprising two upstanding members having key-shaped slots, said projections being slidable into and out of said slotted members when said oar reversing arrangement is rotated to the side of said channel member but not otherwise whereby said means may be interlocked by the relative rotation of the oar reversing arrangement around an axis represented by the lengthwise dimension of the channel member so that the two fixed and rigid means may be separated when the oar reversing arrangement mechanism including said pair of gears is rotated to the side of the channel member, but said two means are interlocked when said oar reversing arrangement mechanism is rotated to a position above said channel member.
 7. A novel oar lock assembly comprising: an oar reversing arrangement having an underside, said arrangement including a pair of meshing gears, a channel member having a top side, and lengthwise sides, a length of the gunwhale of a boat being adapted to be snuggly and slidably received within said channel member between said lengthwise sides, fixed and rigid means on the underside of said oar reversing arrangement and complementary fixed and rigid means on the top of said channel member, said means rigidly attached to the underside of said oar reversing arrangement comprising two projections having keyshaped slots, and the complementary means rigidly attached to the top of said channel member comprises a cross-bar having flattened sides and held by two uprights at each of its ends, said cross-bar being slidable into and out of said projections when said oar reversing arrangement is rotated to the said channel member but not otherwise, whereby said means may be interlocked by the relative rotation of the oar reversing arrangement around an axis represented by the lengthwise dimension of the channel member so that the two fixed and rigid means may be separated when the oar reversing arrangement mechanism including said pair of gears is rotated to the side of the channel member, but said two means are interlocked when said oar reversing arrangement mechanism is rotated to a position above said channel member. 